In The Hope To Meet
by FlyMeAway8
Summary: George's feelings throughout his life after the war. Starting from one year after Fred's death, to George's passing.  Post- war, T for mature themes
1. Old Pains

Harry told him about it, but he wasn't sure it was completely real.

But now as he looks in the mirror, he knows its real. He hears it (fredfredfred). He feels it, cool to the touch (painpainpain) . It pierces and pricks his skin, sending little needles of want and regret into his blood.

Fred is standing there next to him, his arm around his shoulder, laughing merrily.

He knows its not real but that doesn't stop the PAINPAINPAIN from coming in. Tears are streaming down his weathered face and he _wants._

He doesn't _want_ it to just be a tampered reflection. He _wants_ it to be real. He _wants _Fred. _Wants_ him to be here with him.

_Want _is savage. It t e a r s a person apart. Rips a beating heart at its seams and lets the painpainpain come through again. The _painpainpain_ hadn't been there for a while, so as it rips through his being, its re-opening holes.

Tear after tear streams down his face, and Fred is still smiling next to him. _wantfredneedfred. Painpainpain._

He collapses to the floor, sobs wracking his thin frame. He _wants _and he _needs_ and he cries and pain ravages his body. He feels like a hole has been ripped through him, letting the pain in again.

It hurts.

It hurts

It HURTS

Tears form a little pool on the ground around his flaming red hair, water and fire existing together.

Fred was always the loud one, George thought. Fred knew what to say, always. He was rambunctious and spirited and he was lively and he was passionate and he was fire.

George was quiet, George was calm, George was clever, George was water.

Existingtogetherforeverwe'llmeverevereverbeapart

But now the fire was gone, flame extinguished inside a wooden box six feet under.

_Painpainpain_

The Mirror of Erised continued to show an image of two boys, exactly identical (other than a mole or a freckle or two), smiling twin grins, laughing twin laughs, fire hair a halo around their heads.

One of them isn't here anymore, the other survives. George _hurts_. George has _painpainpain. _George _wants_ George _needs._

George needs Fred.


	2. In Loving Memory

_AN: _

_5 years after the war, Molly Weasley invites family and friends over to the Burrow for a celebration of all who passed. George heals old holes. Set to the song In Loving Memory by Jamestown Story. All words in italics are song lyrics :) enjoy._

5 years is a long time, for anyone. A lot of things can happen in five years, namely that one grows older. One may fall in love, and have children in five years, not that its happened to George.

_You said yourself before  
__Where are you?  
I'm needing you much more  
I bet you never knew  
_

_And now everything  
Is gonna fall apart  
I need you here  
Not just in my heart _

When Mum sent over an invitation for a party in honor of them, George wasn't too keen to go. Sure, it was the fifth anniversary, but last year was the fourth, and before that the third, and there where no parties on those occasions. But, it had been 5 years. 5 years is a long time.

_This wasn't how it's supposed to be[In loving memory]_

He said hello to everyone there, as was expected of him. He smiled and waved and played with all his little nephews and nieces and Harry's kids, of course. Although he nearly cried when Percy's wife Audrey slipped up and called him Fred.

_And now I'm torn with misery[In loving memory] _

He pretended to laugh it off, even though Mum kept a close eye on him for the rest of the time. He stood up straight, smiled when needed, and didn't make any impolite comments to anyone.

_I won't forget you please don't me[In loving memory]  
This wasn't how it's supposed to be [In loving memory]_

He thought he was hiding it rather well, his uncomfortable mind-set. Here where all these people, he thought as he tussled Teddy's turquoise hair around, coming together on an anniversary of death, but no one mentioned any names.

_You said yourself before [fore]  
Where are you?  
Face down on the floor  
I bet you never knew_.

No one went up to him and said, "Gee, George, your brother was an amazing guy. We all miss him", even though it would have been intimidating. Where they going to go around all day pretending their loved ones didn't even exist? It was absolutely mad. The world had gone bonkers, according to George.

George rolled that over in his head. The world had gone bonkers. For some reason, it made him smile.

"And what are you so happy about?" A tall dark-skinned girl sauntered up to George, holding a golden flute of some sort of bubbly liquid in her hand

"Something so clever it is far beyond your reach, madam." George replied.

Angelina raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me" she said.

"It doesn't seem like anyone misses him." George said shortly, his eyes roaming around the room to look anywhere but at the woman next to him.

_This wasn't how it's supposed to be [In loving memory] _

"Are you joking, Georgie? Can't you see that look on Ginny's face? She's not paying attention to anything Harry has to say. And Ron. He's just sitting there, fiddling with the tarts." Angelina gestured to the two red-heads as she spoke their names. Indeed, Ginny had a pre-occupied look about her, even though Harry was trying to have a conversation with her. Ron sat in an over-stuffed chair by the fire, toying with a little pastry that seemed to be topped with strawberries.

"They miss him, George. So do I, and so do you." Angelina said, reaching out to touch George's hand.

_And now I'm torn with misery[In loving memory]_

George finally looked down at the woman. She had really become beautiful since Hogwarts. George couldn't remember what he had seen in that Katie Bell girl. He had heard that Katie had run off with Oliver Wood to Scotland after the final battle.

"Would you like to go out to dinner sometime?" he asked her.

She smiled. "We'll see, Weasley."

And she walked away

_I won't forget you please don't me [In loving memory]  
This wasn't how it's supposed to be[In loving memory]_

George looks once more around the room, catching the eye of Percy. Percy smiles a little smile and George waves back.

_It won't go away_

George keeps looking. He notices that Mum took the clock down

_It wont go away. _

He walks to the fireplace, and sits next to Ron's chair. He leans in, and whispers a joke into his little brother's ear. Ron grins and laughs, and George stands back up with a smile on his face.

_It wont go away_

He strolls over to Ginny, and whispers 'boo' in her ear. She jumps slightly, and turns around to see him. She forces herself into his arms, and grabs onto him tightly.

"George, I miss him" she says in-between muffled sobs.

George leans down to speak into her ear. "Me too" he says softly. They hold each other for a few moments more, until Ginny releases him to wipe tears from her eyes.

_It wont go away_

"we all miss him, Gin." George says to her. "But you know, he's up there watching. You wouldn't believe how proud he is of you."

Ginny nodded and smiled, again wiping tears off her cheeks. Harry takes her in his arms, and starts to sway with her. George walks away, his footsteps hardly making a sound.

_It won't go away_

"Hullo Mum" George said, blushing as his stout mother hurries up to him.

"Have you had enough to eat lately George? You're all skin and bones!" She fusses around her son, scolding him for this, and admonishing him for that.

"Mum, calm down. I'm getting enough to eat, I'm doing just fine at the joke shop, everything is alright" he said

She gazed up at him with her blue eyes. "Well, alright, if you say so." She bustled back into the kitchen to finish her soup.

_It won't go away_

George sits at the kitchen table, and closes his eyes

_It won't go away  
__It won't go away._

Fred wouldn't go away. He was there in that room with George, watching over everything. He had always like parties. Fred's death would never go away, as long as there where people there to remember

_And now I'm torn with misery[In loving memory]_

George smiled

_And now I'm torn with misery[In loving memory]_

George laughed

_I won't forget you please don't me [In loving memory]_

As long as there where people, Fred would never be gone. He would always be held in George's heart, in loving memory

_This wasn't how it's supposed to be  
[In loving memory]_


	3. Why Do People Fall In Love?

_~ A/N: This is set 9 years after Fred dies :) in this, George is starting to come to peace with it. He falls in love, he becomes engaged. But still, after all this time, he still talks to Fred. He loves Fred, forever. Next chapter, I expect will be set 15 years after Fred has died. Also, I'd like to know what you think about my different writing styles. Last one was a song-fic, the one before that was free-verse.. this is kinda numb-narrorater haha. Enjoy this for now, loves.~_

_Why do two people fall in love? it's a mystery._

George and Angelina where in love. They liked to kiss and hug and all the things people do when they love each other. One day, George wanted to prove it.

Close your eyes, he said to her. And she did. Take my hand, he said. And she did. He led her along an old path, one that they had walked many times before.

He led her through the big oaken doors, the ones they had walked through so many times ago. The old wood was still scratched and had little holes where spells had it during the war. George ran his hand over the doors for a moment, before gently pulling Angelina through their opening. He had arranged this before-hand of course, with Headmistress McGonagall, so they would not be inturrupted by current Hogwarts students.

You can open your eyes, he whispered to her. And she did.

_Why do two people fall in love? It's a mystery._

She gasped as she realized where she was, and she giggled as George led her to an empty Great Hall. Above the lovers, the sky/ ceiling glowed the fiery orange and pink of a sunset.

He asked her to marry him. She said yes. He slipped the diamond ring onto her third finger, left hand. He had a matching one in the same spot.

_Why do two people fall in love? It's a mystery._

They sat on what used to be the table they used to eat off of in their innocent days, leaning on each other and watching as the ceiling slowly turned dark and starry.

George pointed out constellations to his fiancée. He tells her how he and Fred had once done this. They would sit on the roof outside their room and just be for the night. Sometimes they'd talk, sometimes they wouldn't.

George wasn't so empty any more. Angelina had filled a hole in his heart 9 years old. He would find, as his children came, they would each fill up a place in his heart that had been closed off for so long.

_Why do two people fall in love? It's a mystery._

George still loved Fred. He loved him a whole lot. But he was moving on

And getting better

And being happier

And he _laughed._

George knew that Fred was okay with Angie, and with him moving on.

George knew because he had asked him.

George had walked to the graveyard, and he had kneeled at the tombstone, and he asked permission.

Although he may not have really heard a thing, he felt the wind pick up, and he saw the clouds part a little. George smiled at his brother up in Heaven, set some flowers on his grave, and he went to pick Angelina up.

_Why do two people fall in love? it's a mystery. _


	4. Sea Of Love

George Weasley is happy. He is truly happy for the first time in fifteen years. He is drowning. In a sea of love.

He was loved. You may know this, or you may not, but when you're loved everything is different. Colors are brighter.

And when you're loved, you love in return.

Fred II is so _fucking like __him__.  
_He has the _same fucking eyes_, the _same fucking hair_. He has the _same fucking_ little freckles that Fred had had on the bridge of his nose.

Fred II had never particularly like being called  
"Fred the Second" or  
"Fred Number Two" or  
"Little Fred", so he has taken to calling himself  
Alec.

'Alec' wonders about the uncle he was named after, and whenever asked, George tells him stories. Stories that are often embellished by the usual Fred and George extravagance. 'Alec' frequently asks about the time that the twins turned Draco Malfoy's hair bright orange.

(It is for reasons that don't need to be stated that 'Alec' Weasley and Scorpious Malfoy where, and are, bitter rivals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)

More than often, 'Alec' is bombarded by comments about the uncle he never got to meet.

"Merlin, he's got his _eyes_."

"D'ya see that? That freckles in just the right place."

"His laugh…"

Sometimes George thinks that 'Alec' isn't his child at all, he is just _so fucking_ _like __him__._  
But George loves that. Having 'Alec' around is like having him around again. Not only that, but a little bit more

_He is loved, and loves in return_

* * *

Little Roxy has gorgeous red-brown hair and Merlin; she is a daddy's girl. That first day George took her to the Hogwarts Express with her older brother, she wouldn't let go of his long leg.

'Alec' had rushed off somewhere to find his friends, leaving little Rox to look around helplessly at all the movement around her. The screeching of owls and the mewing of cats and greeting exchanged between mates echoed around the station, and he wide brown eyes absorbed every going-on around her.

"It's time to go now, Roxanne." Angelina said softly.

Roxy mad a small squeaky noise and held tighter to her dad's hip. At eleven, she was short and only came up to his mid-section.

"Let go, Roxy." George said gently, smiling down at her. She slowly let go, and George stooped down next to her. Facing his daughter, he gave the speech that fathers have to give from time to time.

"Now, you listen to me. When you get there, don't listen to anything Alec or James or Teddy tell you about the sorting. It's A LOT worse than they'll tell ya'."

Angelina hit him lightly on the back of the head.

"Only kidding, darling." He winked up at his wife and then turned back to his daughter.

"Remember to give Professor Longbottom lots of trouble for me. And I know those boys'll be all over you, and even if the 'special guy' says he loves you, he's not allowed within five feet of you."

Roxy giggled and swiped a hand over her ski-slope nose.

"Now, this is the most important thing, beautiful. I wouldn't be surprised if this quote goes down as the best quote in the history of amazing quotes."

She giggled again and he smiled in delight. He loved it when she laughed. It was the best sound he had ever heard. He put his large hand on her pale cheek, and whispered so only the two of them could hear.

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most most _mostmostmost _important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you. Always."

She stared at him with a wide open expression. She was afraid, most defiantly afraid. Her big brown eyes stared into his, and he saw his reflection. The thing is, for just a second, it wasn't him reflecting in his daughters beautiful eyes. It was someone who he hadn't seen for fifteen years. And someone who had never really left him.

_He is loved, and loves in return._

* * *

As the train pulled away, George Weasley cried a few small tears. He knew that as his daughter walked up the steps to her new school, she would read her uncle's name on the plaque beside the weathered doors. And they would both be with her.

When the Sorting Hat atop her head spoke to the crowed in the candle-lit Great Hall, they would both be with her.

As she laid down for her first might in a strange castle that had held all of her family since the beginning, they would both kiss her forehead and wish her a goodnight, turning out the bedside lamp behind her.


	5. The End

In the last moments of his life, George did everything from his and Fred's teenage bucket list, including what the muggles call 'skydiving'.

In the last weeks of his life, George visited his old friends from school. He reminisced with Lee, Katie, Oliver, Ginny, Harry, and Ron. That was the sort of thing old people do.

In the last days of his life, George began his letter. At first it ran only a few sentences long, but it slowly spanned to the length of several papers.

In the last moments of his life, George signed his letter with a typical Weasley flourish. He reached up to touch the spot below where his ear used to be; a habit he had picked up in the years after the war. He sighed. The house was quiet. The kids had moved out and Angelina had died years ago of a sudden heart attack. This was the only moment of peace he had had in the last 70 years. He usually appreciated the mischievous noise caused by his family; his grandkids and great-nieces and nephews.

But, in the last seconds of George's life, he smiled gleefully into the serene and absolute silence of his home, savoring it. Then, he closed his eyes peacefully and was no more.

* * *

_Dear Fred,_

_I'm dying. You probably know that though. You've always been that know-it-all git, sort of like Hermione. I'm sorry that I haven't visited lately. I've been busy._

_I gave the shop to Roxy. She's become more of a trouble maker anyway. I've told her and Fred many stories about our antics at Hogwarts, and she took inspiration. I mean, Merlin, she sent a toilet seat home to Albus. Did you know she wrote a book? It was about Harry and Hermione and ickle Ronniekins. You too._

_And Fred. Or Alec, should I say? He's smart. So so smart. No one was surprised when he became Minister. He is a little Percy, for sure. Tell Perce I say hullo. Mum misses him. It must be odd to out-live a few of your children. Anyroad, Alec used to ask about you a lot when he was young. When I told him how alike you too where, he would beam. Then Rox would have a tantrum and decide that she was more like you. But he would still smile. __When he was a teen he looked like you, other than a freckle or two. But the thing most like us (I guess it is us, as we are twins) is when he laughs. Roxy's got the same guffaw, mind you, but she's a girl. Alec's voice is just the right caliber. _

_He doesn't laugh a lot anymore. His wife and kids and his work are stressing him, though he doesn't like to show it._

_Since I've talked about the kids, I figure I should talk about myself for a bit._

_Angelina has been gone for a while, send her my love. What she shouldn't know though, is contained in the next few sentences._

_I fell out of love with her a long time ago, Fred. I met a muggle girl at a coffee shop when I was 28 and she was so beautiful. Angelina must have noticed when I brought her over for dinner, introducing her as a work colleague. But she didn't say anything. This girl, this muggle was just mind-blowing. She didn't talk to me like I was some sort of war hero, Fred. It was amazing that all there was to our relationship was her and me, and not everything I've gone through._  
_She died, too, not long after I met her. So I decided to love Angelina again, but it wasn't the same._

_I know you know all of this, but I thought I'd tell you anyway._

_So, yeah. I'll see you in a little bit. There's this muggle adage I've become a bit fond of. I suppose they used to say it as a 'goodbye':_

_'In the hope to meet shortly again, and make our absence sweet.'_

_I know you must think I've gone soft, but it is sad. I'm rather sad and pathetic and old. If you where here, you would be too. You'd be the most crotchety old man that there ever was in the whole history of England. So don't be a wanker and laugh that I've gone soft, even if I have_

_I thought about you a lot these last seventy or so years. I think you've thought about me too._

_Sorry for being sentimental in my old age. I'll tell you everything as soon as I get up there._

_This is the end, I suppose. So,_

_In the hope to meet shortly again, our absence has been sweet,_

George

-The End-

AN: I said seventy years, because I've decided that Geo' measures time by Fred's death. Anyroad, I hope you like it. I'm not totally pleased with the ending, but life goes on. I would be ever-so-happy if you'd review. So, yeah. Thanks for reading!


End file.
